Win XP desktop help

Well we all know those F***OFF bars on the left side of the folders that give you some options on what to do with certain folders and files

well I hate them so I got rid of them, then the other day on of the little f-buggers popped up on my desktop I WANT TO KILL IT.

I have tried right clicking it and scowerd through the desktop proteries tell my eyes bleed.

any help would be greatly appreciated

twiztit_momma

Proficient

Posts: 346

Loc: SanLeon Tx

3+ Months Ago

just a q what is a f***off bar?

ATNO/TW

Super Moderator

Posts: 23458

Loc: Woodbridge VA

3+ Months Ago

I have to agree, I had no clue what he was refering to either.

IH8Purple

Guru

Posts: 1215

Loc: Somewhere on Google Earth

3+ Months Ago

The bar on the left side of a folder in XP, they have
-Folder task
detail
other places
ECT

UNFLUX

Genius

Posts: 6375

Loc: twitter.com/unflux

3+ Months Ago

and it shows up on your desktop now? those are just called
"Common Tasks" in the folder settings.

You can get to them by --
right click My Computer/Properties/Advanced tab/Performance
and find it in the list.

IH8Purple

Guru

Posts: 1215

Loc: Somewhere on Google Earth

3+ Months Ago

I tried seting the thing to "best apperence" then back to "best prformance" and made sure everything was unchecked. there not in my folders but there is still one on my desktop

ATNO/TW

Super Moderator

Posts: 23458

Loc: Woodbridge VA

3+ Months Ago

So you're basically saying you can't delete the shortop from the desktop? Did you right click and check properties? If so, is there any "target" information there? If not, click anywhere on your desktop and hit F5. It almost sounds like you have a shortcut to a program that was removed that is still haning around.

IH8Purple

Guru

Posts: 1215

Loc: Somewhere on Google Earth

3+ Months Ago

It's not a shortcut it's the common tasks bar, it can't be right clicked nomatter how many times I've tried, and it hasn't gone away after reboots let alone refreshing

UNFLUX

Genius

Posts: 6375

Loc: twitter.com/unflux

3+ Months Ago

weird -- i've never seen that before

IH8Purple

Guru

Posts: 1215

Loc: Somewhere on Google Earth

3+ Months Ago

I'll try creating another user on my computer to see if this machine is just infected with the helpful plauge or something

UNFLUX

Genius

Posts: 6375

Loc: twitter.com/unflux

3+ Months Ago

what theme are you using?? if it's a 3rd party theme it's possible
that's how they built it.

try going to Windows Classic and see if it goes away. Classic
does not use the common tasks pane.

UNFLUX

Genius

Posts: 6375

Loc: twitter.com/unflux

3+ Months Ago

this is right from Windows Help:

Quote:

To display links to common tasks in folders:Open Folder Options in Control Panel. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.Click Appearance and Themes, and then click Folder Options.On the General tab, under Tasks, click Show common tasks in folders.

The hyperlinks to common tasks in the left pane of your folder windows provide quick access to file and folder management activities and other places on your computer, such as My Computer, Shared Documents, and My Network Places. Windows displays these links by default, so they may already be displayed in your folders. If they are not, you can use Folder Options to enable this feature. To disable this feature in your folders, on the General tab, under Tasks, click Use Windows classic folders.

IH8Purple

Guru

Posts: 1215

Loc: Somewhere on Google Earth

3+ Months Ago

oh the new user did not have the common tasks bar on the desktop however I don't really want to preprogram my firewall setting, startmenu bar, desktop icons, quicklaunch bar, program settings, etc.
Unless someone know a way to do all of this quickly

UNFLUX

Genius

Posts: 6375

Loc: twitter.com/unflux

3+ Months Ago

did you try what i suggested yet?

IH8Purple

Guru

Posts: 1215

Loc: Somewhere on Google Earth

3+ Months Ago

umm trying to my folder optins is frozen for smome reason, going to rebot, I think it's time for a ram dump anyways

IH8Purple

Guru

Posts: 1215

Loc: Somewhere on Google Earth

3+ Months Ago

ok rebooted fresh new clean ram, ahhh
went to folder opens, set to common tasks on, then back to off, The bar is still there
I'm on the windows classic theme

I'm thinking at one point in time I started to fool around with the active desktop (got nowhere) and turned it all back off, It way have been this that caused the tasks to show up but I am not sure as I go for long times without seeing my beautiful desktop images.

IH8Purple

Guru

Posts: 1215

Loc: Somewhere on Google Earth

3+ Months Ago

alright I stop trying altogether, easyest way around it was to just create a new user and transfer all my settings

Malone. On initial view your post looks like a good answer, However I'm sure many will be concerned that it's a virus or trojan and be afraid to download or work with your proposed fix. Can you explain what it is you are providing? I checked your links with Symantec Enterprise and found them virus free to this point. I didn't install your solution yet, because I don't need to or want to...but it might help others if you explain what you are providing.

Malone

Born

Posts: 3

3+ Months Ago

@ATNO/TW

Is this paranoia?! I only want to help!

This answer is not mine.
Thanks on Doug Knox for it.
Doug Knox is Microsoft Most Valuable Proffesional. [Windows XP MVP]
See this

Visit Doug's Web site

XP_CommonTasks.exe - This application will correct the Registry setting that causes the Common Tasks pane to appear on the Windows XP Desktop.

This is from Doug's Site. From Here

The original VB Script version can still be found here.

Best Regards Again!

ATNO/TW

Super Moderator

Posts: 23458

Loc: Woodbridge VA

3+ Months Ago

Thanks for the explanation. On my part, no, not paranoia, but there's a lot of newbs that don't even know where their reigstry is let alone how to modify it safetly. And from a personal view, I get emailed at least a dozen or more viruses a day to email accounts I don't even have posted on the net, so I do check things out for safety first most of the time.

Like I said, appreciate the post and the explanation.

Malone

Born

Posts: 3

3+ Months Ago

--- offtopic ---

Thank you ATNO/TW!
I have strange sence of humor and bad writing English! That's all!

Quote:

but there's a lot of newbs that don't even know where their reigstry is let alone how to modify it safetlyOriginally posted by ATNO/TW - Sat May 01, 2004 3:20 am

You are absolutely right!

Quote:

appreciate the post and the explanationOriginally posted by ATNO/TW - Sat May 01, 2004 3:20 am